Weft detector



ay 17, 1949. I s. F. SICILIANQ'H 2,470,527

WEFT DETECTOR- Filed Dec. 6, 1945 '3 Sheets-Sheet 1 g 1 w: g A9 y 1949- "s. F. SICILIANO} 2,470,527

WEFT DETECTOR 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Dec. 6, 1945 y 1949. s. F. SICILIANO 2,470,527

WEFT DETECTOR Filed Dec. 6, 1945 s Shets-Sheet 5 Patented May 17, 1949 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE George C. Moore corporation of Rhod 20 Claims. 1

This invention relates to devices in the nature of weft detectors, and has as its object the provision of a novel and improved mechanism of this sort of general utility and especially adapted for use in a narrow fabric loom employing a plurality of reeds and a plurality of shuttles on the same lay beam to weave a number of distinct fabrics simultaneously. The main purpose of the invention is to provide a mechanism of this sort which will detect instantly a failure in the weft supply to any one of the plurality of fabrics being woven, whether such failure is caused by breakage or exhaustion of such weft, or comprises slackness in the length of weft extending from the fabric to the shuttle during the beat-up and resulting from failure of the shuttle tension or other causes, and which mechanism will respond to such detection by calling a change in the working of the 100m, as by stopping the loom, or by operating an audible or visual signal, or other- Wise calling to the Weaver's notice the fact that the loom needs attention. Further aims of the invention are to provide a mechanism of this sort which will make it easy to adjust the weft detecting devices into proper working relation when the widths of the respective fabrics being woven are changed, and to make it possible to instal the detectors on the lay beam, even in existing looms, with a minimum of effort and change therein and without adding appreciably to the weight of the lay or cluttering it up with motiontransmitting elements or wiring interfering with the weavers work or otherwise adding obstructions. An additional aim is to provide simple means to confine the detecting function to the period in the looms cycle in which the weft should be in the proper position to be detected.

Other aims of the invention, and the manner of their attainment, are as set forth in the following description.

An illustrative embodiment is shown in the accompanying drawings, in which,

Fig. 1 is a vertical section through the lay beam of a narrow fabric loom, showing the improved weft feeler of the invention applied thereto.

Fig. 2 is a front view of the parts shown in Fig. 1, the lay beam bein shown fragmentarily in section.

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the parts ofFig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a more or less diagrammatic showing of the timer and the electrical connections between the weft feelers and the 100m stop motion.

The invention is shown installed on the lay of a narrow fabric loom employing circular shuttles, though it is equally applicable to mpany, Westerly, R. I., a

e Island Application December 6, 1945, Serial No. 633,069

straight-shuttle narrow fabric looms. As the reed, shuttle, and weft feeler illustrated are duplicated and identical at each of the locations in the length of the lay beam where the respective fabrics are being woven, it is necessary to show and describe only the parts involved at one of such locations, with the understanding that one of the weft feelers of the invention is provided alongside of each fabric bein woven in the loom.

At I is the lay beam, on which are mounted the several reeds 3 and the shuttle blocks 5, these parts being supported on the lay back (not shown) in conventional manner. The bow shuttles 'I travel in curved paths guided by the slots 9 in the shuttle blocks 5, these parts all being constructed and operated as usual.

In accordance with the invention, a hollow tube II of square section inside and out, and preferably made of brass, and having its top face provided with a slot I3, is fitted into and fixed within an appropriate groove made in the top surface of the lay I at about midwidth of such top surface. This tube extends for substantially the full length of the lay, or at least past all of the plurality of reeds located thereon. The slotted upward face of tube II' protrudes slightly from the top surface of the lay, and supports a small metallic block I5 in which is pivotally mounted a member I! comprising the weft feeler. Block I5 is operatively fixed on slotted tube II with capacity for full and unlimited adjustment lengthwise of the tube, by means of a screw I6 passing through the block and the slot I3 and through a square nut I8 fittin slidably but non-rotatably within the interior of the tube.

Each weft feeler I1 is conveniently formed of a single piece of wire, having a straight and substantially vertical portion I9 of nearly the same length as the dents of the reed 3, which portion is located adjacent the reed 3 and engages the weft thread 2I' in its extent from the selvage of the fabric 23 being woven to the eye 25 of the shuttle. At the base of this portion IS, the Wire is bent at right angles to extend horizontally forward as shown at 21, is bent again at right angles to extend to the left as at 29, and is again bent at right angles to extend through a hole in the block I5 from back to front thereof, while the tail end 3| is bent at an obtuse angle to the adjacent portion which goes through the block I5.

A strip of metal 33 of the same length as tube I I I is fixed on the top surface of lay beam I in closely spaced and parallel relation to the slotted tube II, as by means of the screws 35, this strip being insulated from the slotted tube by reason of the lay beam I on which it is mounted being made of wood.

By reason of the unbalanced mounting of weft feeler IT in its bearing block l5, the weft feeler tends to gravitate with clockwise rotation about the axis of its pivotal portion extending through the bearing block l5, swinging in a vertical plane substantially parallel to the plane of the reed, until its tail 3| rests on the top surface of strip 33. This is the normal or idle position of the weft feeler.

It is to be noted that the upright weft engaging portion I9 of the weft feeler is always located between the path of the shuttle 1 and the reed 3, so that in the travel of the shuttle 1 from right to left the weft extending from the left-hand selvage of the fabric 23 to the eye of the shuttle lies in front of the portion IQ of the weft feeler. When the lay beats up, therefore, as shown in Fig. 3, the fell line of the cloth passes to the rear of the portion I9, which stands a substantial distance forward of the reed 3 and is adjusted into close proximity with the left-hand selvage of the cloth, with the result that the weft thread 2| picks up the weft feeler I! by reason of the slight tension on such weft thread imparted by the friction device (if, and thus positions the feeler by rotating the feeler counterclockwise about the axis of its pivotal portion extending through the bearing [5, and lifting the tail 3| of the feeler out of contact with strip 33.

The mounting of the feelers bearing block |5 on the square tube H by means of the slot and bolt greatly facilitates the setting of the device into proper working relation with different widths of fabric, since it is only necessary to loosen screw 5 and either slide the bearing block l5 along the slot l3 or rotate the block about the axis of screw l6 until the upright weft engaging portion IQ of the feeler stands to the right of the normal straight-line extent of weft 2| from the fell to its point of contact with the shuttle with the lay at front center, taking care that portion l9 does not rest against the selvage of fabric 23 and thus prevent the tail 3| of the feeler from normally resting on strip 33; screw I6 is then tightened to retain this adjustment. Thus an infinite amount of adjustment of the working position of each feeler is attainable, either through sliding the block l5 along the slotted tube, or rotating the block about the axis of screw It, or by a combination of these operations, and also the necessity for providing individual wiring for each feeler is avoided.

With the parts in this relation, weft feeler H is positioned so that its tail 3| is out of contact with strip 33, each time the reed 3 beats up a pick of weft laid from right to left, provided the weft is in good working condition as regards its unbroken extent from the fell to the shuttle eye and its being properly tensioned by the friction device. But if the Weft is broken or has run out, or is too slack, it will fail thus to position the weft feeler at this phase of the looms cycle, and the tail 3| of the feeler will remain in contact with strip 33.

To obtain a detecting impulse from this relationship, slotted tube II and strip 33 are respectively made conducting elements of an electric circuit actuating a shipper knock-off, or loom stop motion, this circuit being completed as between tube H and strip 33 by the contact of tail 3| of the feeler with the latter strip. Thus, strip 33 is connected by wire 39, Fig. 3, with one terminal of a step-down transformer 4|, Fig. 4, supplying 12 to 18-volt current from high-voltage mains 43 connected with a suitable source of power (not shown) while slotted tube II is connected by wire 45 with one terminal of an electrically actuated loom stop motion 41. The other terminal of the stop motion is connected by leads 49, 5|, to the other terminal of the low-voltage side of transformer 4|, through a switch 53 which is actuated mechanically in timed relation to the looms cycle in such manner that the current can pass switch 53 and thus fiow through the circuit only as the lay arrives at front center to effect the beating up of the pick which has been laid in from right to left.

The timing switch 53, which thus limits the response of the circuit including the loom stop motion 41 to the brief period during which the weft feelers should be picked up or positioned by the respective wefts if the latter are in proper working condition, is actuated from any suitable or preferred going part on the loom, herein by means of a cam 55 fixed on the loom cam shaft 51, which shaft makes one rotation for every two cycles of the lay. Thus the rise of cam 55 rocks a bell-crank lever 59 counterclockwise about a pivot 6|, suitably mounted on a fixed part of the loom, such lever pushing in the spring plunger 63 of switch 53 to close such switch, each time the lay reaches front center with the shuttles standing at the left side of the respective fabrics being woven thereby, namely at every other beatup of the lay. In this way, the contact of the feeler tails 3| with conducting strip 33 normally occurring throughout the entire working of the loom except at the moments when the testing of the several wefts by the Weft feelers takes place, is neutralized and rendered ineffective to stop the loom. As is obvious, it is only when the circuit is closed simultaneously by the tail 3| of a feeler and the switch 53 that the stop motion 47 acts to stop the loom; and. this simultaneous closure of the circuit at two points can occur only at the beat-up of a pick laid in from right to left. The result is that a failure of the weft weaving any one of the plurality of fabrics in the loom instantly calls the change in the manner of operation of the loom, herein by stopping the loom.

While I have illustrated and described a certain form in which the invention may be embodied, I am aware that many modifications may be made therein by any person skilled in the art, without departing from the scope of the invention as expressed in the claims. Therefore, I do not wish to be limited to the particular form shown, or to the details of construction thereof, but

What I do claim is:

1. In a narrow fabric loom having a lay and a plurality of reeds and shuttles thereon, in combination, a weft feeler adjacent each of a plurality of reeds and positioned by engagement with a Weft thread extending from a shuttle to the fabric being woven by the latter, and means calling a change in the action of the loom when any of the feelers fails to be positioned by a weft thread as the lay beats up.

2. In a narrow fabric loom having a lay and a plurality of reeds and shuttles thereon, in combination, a weft feeler adjacent each of a plurality of reeds and positioned by engagement with a weft thread extending from a shuttle to the fabric being Woven by the latter, shipper knock-off mechanism, and means common to all 8 the feelers actuating the knock-off mechanism when any of the feelers fails to be positioned by a weft thread as the lay beats up.

3. In a narrow fabric loom having a lay and a plurality of reeds and shuttles thereon, in combination, a weft feeler adjacent each of a plurality of reeds and positioned by engagement with a weft thread extending from a shuttle to the fabric being woven by such shuttle, devices effecting a change in the working of the loom, and an electric circuit controlling the said devices and acting to call the change in the working of the room when a weft thread fails to position its Weft feeler.

4. In a narrow fabric loom having a lay and a plurality of reeds and shuttles thereon, in combination, a wef't feeler adjacent each of a plurality of reeds and positioned by engagement with a weft thread extendin from a shuttle to the fabric being woven by such shuttle, devices effecting a change in the Working of the loom, and an electric circuit controlling the said devices and capable of being closed by any one of the weft feelers to call the change when such feeler fails to be positioned by its weft thread.

5. In a narrow fabric loom having a lay and a plurality of reeds and shuttles thereon, in combination, means stopping the loom, an electric circuit controlling the said stopping means, and a plurality of weft feelers each adjacent one of the reeds and each closing the electric circuit and thus actuating the stopping means unless held from so doing by engagement with a weft thread extending from the shuttle cooperating with the adjacent reed and the fabric being woven thereby.

6. In a loom having a lay and a reed and a shuttle thereon, in combination, means stopping the loom, and a weft feeler controlling the stopping means and mounted on the lay adjacent the reed and having its weft-engaging portion located at all times between the path of the shuttle and the plane of the reed.

7. In a loom having a lay, a reed, a shuttle, and means stopping the loom, in combination, a weft feeler controlling the stopping means and pivotally mounted on the lay and swinging in a plane parallel to the plane of the reed.

8. In a loom, in combination, a lay, a reed, a shuttle, a weft feeler having a portion engaging the weft between the shuttle and the fabric being woven thereby, and a portion defining an axis about which the weft-engaging portion swings, a bearing for the second portion maintaining the latters axis in a substantially horizontal plane, and means attaching the bearing to the lay with capacity for adjustment of the bearing about a substantially vertical axis to change the angle of the portion defining the axis about which the weft-engaging portion swings.

9. In a loom, in combination, a lay, a reed, a shuttle, a weft feeler positioned by the weft extending from the shuttle to the fabric being woven thereby, a loom stop motion, an electric circuit actuating the stop motion, and a contact engaged condition, the weft feeler being adjustable lengthwise of the lay to any extent within the length of the contact element without loss of its contactmaking engagement with the contact element by reason of the latters extent lengthwise of the lay.

11. In a m, in combination, a lay, a shuttle, a loom stop motion, an electric circuit actuating the stop motion, a weft feeler positioned by the weft when the latter is in proper working cond ition, an electrical conductor fixed on the lay, connected to the circuit, and in relative sliding contact with the weft feeler, and a second electrical conductor fixed on the lay and also con-- nected to the circuit and engaged by the weft feeler to close the circuit and actuate the stop motion when the weft feeler fails to be positioned by the weft.

12. In a loom, in combination, a lay, a shuttle, a loom stop motion, an electric circuit actuating the stop motion, a weft feeler positioned by the weft thread from the shuttle when such weft thread is in proper working condition, an electrical conductor in such circuit and extending lengthwise of the lay, means mounting the weft feeler on such conductor with capacity for "shift lengthwise thereof to any desired position in the length thereof, and a second electrical conductor adjacent the first and also in the circuit and engaged by a part in connection with the weft feeler to close the circuit and stop the loom when the weft feeler fails to be properly positioned by the weft.

13. In a loom, in combination, a lay, a shuttle, a loom stop motion, an electric circuit actuating the stop motion, a weft feeler positioned by the weft thread from the shuttle when such weft thread is in proper working condition, an electrical conductor in such circuit fixed on the lay and extending lengthwise thereof and longitudinally slotted, means in connection with the weft feeler engaging within the slot to locate the weft feeler at any desired point in the length of the lay and to maintain the weft feeler in electrical connection with the conductor, and a second conductor also in the electrical circuit and located alongside the first conductor on the lay and engaged by a part in connection with the weft feeler to complete the circuit and stop the loom when the weft feeler fails to be positioned by the weft.

14. In a narrow fabric loom, in combination, a lay, a plurality of reeds, a plurality of shuttles, a weft feeler mounted on the lay adjacent each reed, a loom stop motion, and an electrical circuit actuating the stop motion and brought into action by each of the weft feelers when the latter detects a defective weft.

15. In a narrow fabric loom, in combination, a lay, a plurality of reeds, a plurality of shuttles, a weft feeler associated with each reed, a loom stop motion, and an electrical circuit actuating the stop motion and connected in parallel with all the feelers, and a conducting element engaged by a part in connection with each feeler to close the circuit and stop the loom when any one of the feelers detects a defective weft.

16. In a loom, in combination, a lay, a reed, a shuttle, a loom stop motion, an electric circuit actuating the stop motion, a weft feeler acting to close the circuit and prevented from so doing while the lay is at front center by a weft in proper working relation, and means opening the electric circuit at another point therein during the period when the lay is at other positions than at front center.

17. In a narrow fabric loom, in combination, a plurality of reeds, a plurality of shuttles, a plurality of weft feelers each associated with one of the reeds and positioned by the weft from the shuttle cooperating with such reed when such weft is in proper working condition, an electrical conductor extending lengthwise of the lay past all the reeds, means mounting the weft feelers on such conductor in electrical connection therewith and with capacity for unlimited adjustment lengthwise thereof, a second conductor substantially coextensive with the first and insulated therefrom and with which the respective feelers make electrical contact when any one thereof fails to be positioned by its weft as the lay beats up the weft a loom stop motion, an electrical circuit actuating the stop motion and including the two conductors, and timer means interrupting the electrical circuit except when the lay is beating 18. In a multi-shuttle narrow ware loom having a lay and a plurality of reeds, in combination, a weft feeler pivotally mounted on the lay to swing in a vertical plane, and swivelling means mounting the feeler on the lay with capacity for adjustment of the angle of such vertical plane with respect to the longitudinal axis of the lay.

19. In a multi-shuttle narrow ware loom having a lay and a plurality of reeds, in combination,

a weft feeler, means supporting such weft feeler on the lay with capacity to swing in a vertical plane, and swivelling means fixing the supporting means to the lay with capacity for angular adjustment about a vertical axis.

20. In a multi-shuttle narrow ware loom having a lay and a plurality of reeds, in combination, a weft feeler associated with each reed, means supporting such weft feeler on the lay with capacity to swing in a vertical plane, and shiftable clampin means fixing the supporting means to the lay with capacity for adjustment of its position lengthwise of the lay to suit different widths of reeds.

SAMUEL F. SICILIANO.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 441,796 Graner Dec. 2, 1890 917,644 McGuiness Apr. 6, 1909 1,151,288 Ryon Aug. 24, 1915 1,480,736 Northrop Jan. 15, 1924 1,737,690 Unwin Dec. 3, 1929 1,791,789 Burdett Feb. 10, 1931 2,356,458 Holmes Aug. 22, 1944 

